Food as Medicine Part 3 - Vitamin B12 Deficiency

Animal products such as eggs and dairy are good sources of vitamin B12.

​"Are you feeling tired? Weak? Can't keep up with everyday tasks like you used to? Try vitamin B12!"

It sounds like an infomercial, but there's some truth to it. Vitamin B12 is vital in our health, as it benefits the following:
​

• ​energy
• mental clarity
• emotional stability
• weight management

Deficiency in vitamin B12 can lead to depression, poor memory, depression, fatigue, sleeping disorders, and can even lead up to heart problems through disorders such as anemia.

What can aid in becoming deficient from this vitamin? Poor nutrition is a main factor in our loss of B12, especially if you lead an active lifestyle. It's very important to take the time to have a proper diet, and that's something I still struggle with. It's as if I get so busy I can't remember to drink enough water or take the time to eat enough rather than crashing and gorging. I'm doing better though, Ryan helps with that because he's constantly shoving a bottled water in my face and making me drink it or offering food.

What would I do without my husband?

So let's look at where we can get out B12 from.

A cute little Fuzz-Butt added to the photo rather than photobombing it.

I once gathered dandelions with my kids from work.

Dandelion Taraxicum officinale is an herb that contains B12, and is actually my favorite herb! There is so much you can do with dandelion!

• ​​make coffee and decoctions from the roots
• use the leaves in a salad
• make teas from the flowers and even infused oils

Note: It's best to gather the roots before flowering because the nutrients go directly to flower once it does bloom.

Other herbs useful for their content of vitamin B12 would be bladder wrack Fucus vesiculosus, alfalfa Medicago sativa, and many types of seaweed.

Vitamin B12 is highest in forms of animal products, such as:

• ​dairy
• red meat
• fish
• eggs

Ryan and I will go through a carton of eggs easy in one day! We have a friend who is also our own "special supplier friend" (does that sound like a drug dealer? "This is mah egg dealer!") and I buy two dozen each week, but I could easily buy more because how short they last with us after running, biking, and everything else.

Red meat is something I need to eat more of, but we do eat a lot of fish and we have cheese often, as well.

I'm sorry this post wasn't about Tent Life, but I had to start up my other posts again as well! We'll keep y'all updated on tent living and how close we are to moving into The Nook. Until then,

Good health to you and yours!

Please comment if you wish, and feel free to share! If you have questions I'm always up for answering!